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Olive Garden and LongHorn help Darden beat earnings as Americans keep dining out
It seems Americans can’t get enough of Olive Garden’s never-ending soup or salad and breadsticks: The chain’s parent company reported quarterly results on Friday that buck a broader slump in dining out trends. Darden Restaurants reported stronger-than-expected sales and earnings growth in its most-recent quarter that slightly beat analysts’ estimates. The Orlando-based company reported that same-store sales increased 6.9% at Olive Garden and 6.7% at LongHorn Steakhouse, which both beat analysts’ expectations. Across the company’s 11 brands, same-restaurant sales rose 4.6%. The company, not surprisingly, credits its model for its success. Rick Cardenas, Darden’s president and CEO, said the company has been “very prudent” in keeping its price changes below inflation. “What we believe is happening right now in the casual dining space is our consumers are figuring out that casual dining is a great value,” he said Friday on a call with Wall Street analysts. “Consumers want to go out and spend their hard-earned money, and we think we’re taking some wallet share from fast food and fast casual.” Americans have soured on fast food lately, as both McDonald’s and Chipotle reported declines in same-store sales during their first quarters, albeit for different timeframes than Darden. Traffic at U.S. quick-service restaurants—which includes the likes of McDonald’s and Chipotle—has been steadily declining, and fell again in May versus last year, according to figures from Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), which provides insights about the restaurant industry. Saving money is the main reason keeping people from heading out to eat, as 69% of Americans say they’re eating at home more often, according to KPMG’s Consumer Pulse Summer 2025 report. And consumers surveyed said they expect to spend 7% less at restaurants each month this summer. Olive Garden’s Momentum Despite weakness elsewhere in the industry, Darden is forecasting solid growth in its 2026 fiscal year that’s now underway. The company forecast total sales growth of 7% to 8% following gains of 6% in the 2025 fiscal year. One thing that’s helped Olive Garden, Darden’s biggest brand, is a delivery partnership with Uber Direct. In the most-recent quarter, Uber Direct accounted for about 3.5% of Olive Garden’s total sales. And more broadly, Cardenas said that Darden is focusing on how to keep up its recent strength, particularly for Olive Garden. “We’re going to continue to find ways to keep that momentum going.”
It seems Americans can’t get enough of Olive Garden’s never-ending soup or salad and breadsticks: The chain’s parent company reported quarterly results on Friday that buck a broader slump in dining out trends.
Darden Restaurants reported stronger-than-expected sales and earnings growth in its most-recent quarter that slightly beat analysts’ estimates. The Orlando-based company reported that same-store sales increased 6.9% at Olive Garden and 6.7% at LongHorn Steakhouse, which both beat analysts’ expectations. Across the company’s 11 brands, same-restaurant sales rose 4.6%.
The company, not surprisingly, credits its model for its success. Rick Cardenas, Darden’s president and CEO, said the company has been “very prudent” in keeping its price changes below inflation.
“What we believe is happening right now in the casual dining space is our consumers are figuring out that casual dining is a great value,” he said Friday on a call with Wall Street analysts. “Consumers want to go out and spend their hard-earned money, and we think we’re taking some wallet share from fast food and fast casual.”
Americans have soured on fast food lately, as both McDonald’s and Chipotle reported declines in same-store sales during their first quarters, albeit for different timeframes than Darden. Traffic at U.S. quick-service restaurants—which includes the likes of McDonald’s and Chipotle—has been steadily declining, and fell again in May versus last year, according to figures from Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), which provides insights about the restaurant industry.
Saving money is the main reason keeping people from heading out to eat, as 69% of Americans say they’re eating at home more often, according to KPMG’s Consumer Pulse Summer 2025 report. And consumers surveyed said they expect to spend 7% less at restaurants each month this summer.
Olive Garden’s Momentum
Despite weakness elsewhere in the industry, Darden is forecasting solid growth in its 2026 fiscal year that’s now underway. The company forecast total sales growth of 7% to 8% following gains of 6% in the 2025 fiscal year.
One thing that’s helped Olive Garden, Darden’s biggest brand, is a delivery partnership with Uber Direct. In the most-recent quarter, Uber Direct accounted for about 3.5% of Olive Garden’s total sales.
And more broadly, Cardenas said that Darden is focusing on how to keep up its recent strength, particularly for Olive Garden. “We’re going to continue to find ways to keep that momentum going.”
